Acara is a program of the University’s Institute on the Environment that annually teaches 150 to 200 undergraduate and graduate students to identify local and global real-world problems and design solutions to them, which are then incorporated in functioning projects. The best are subsequently funded with grants ranging from $500 to $10,000. Examples include Kaloli Energy, which is turning urban trash into cooking fuel in order to decrease deforestation and air pollution in Uganda; My Rain, a successful business in India that distributes low-cost drip irrigation technology; and Minnesota Freedom Fund, a local nonprofit working to eliminate bail for people charged with misdemeanors. Come and hear inspirational stories of University of Minnesota students and alumni working to address important social problems, and bring your ideas of projects, both local and international, which they might undertake.